Special thanks to Shaine's parents for posting this information on their
website (http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/shainelynn)


U of C scientists grow disease in laboratory
Michelle Lang, Calgary Herald
Published: Thursday, August 07, 2008

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/08/06/atrt-brain-cancer.html?ref=rss

Calgary scientists have discovered how to grow a rare childhood brain cancer
outside of the human body, a finding researchers hope will help identify
potential therapies for the deadly disease.

While the cancer is traditionally difficult to reproduce outside of the body, a
University of Calgary team successfully grew atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumour
cells -- or AT/RT -- in a petri dish with the help of brain fluid. Experts said
the research findings, published in the July 24 issue of the Journal of
Neuro-Oncology, are important because they offer scientists the opportunity to
test drugs without putting a patient at risk. "By growing them outside the
body, (we can) study the biology more easily and see what agents are effective,"
said Dr. Aru Narendran, lead researcher on the study.

AT/RT is a rare cancer, affecting about 15 Canadian infants and children
annually. The disease is aggressive and has a survival rate of only 10 per cent,
according to the Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta, which funded part of
the study. Researchers have previously grown AT/RT in a lab using cells taken
from brain tumours. But Dr. Douglas Strother, director of the Alberta Children's
Hospital cancer program, said this technique often didn't work and the cells
died off easily. In the Journal of Neuro-Oncology study, the University of
Calgary team reported on a novel method they developed for growing the cells in
a lab using brain and spinal fluid. Researchers said a natural hormone found in
the fluid appears to stimulate the cancer cells to grow. Strother said the new
model is easier than performing brain surgery to extract cells from the tumour.
He said the Calgary research also offers a new way of testing drugs to treat a
disease that doesn't currently have a standard therapy.

"The tumour is very aggressive in kids," said Strother, who worked on the study.
"We need a place to study it outside kids and that's why this is really good."
Narendran and his team have already begun testing potential therapies on cells
grown in the brain fluid. One drug, AEW-541, is showing promise and seems to
stop the growth of cells. Narendran said the research is still years away from
creating a new treatment for children with the disease.
But Christine Wandzura, founder and chief executive officer of the Kids Cancer
Care Foundation, said the study's findings offer hope for young patients with
AT/RT. "When it's your child, it's not a rare tumour, it's a real thing," said
Wandzura, whose son died of a brain tumour in 1991. "At this point, there
hasn't been a lot of success with the drugs they are using."
__
_________________________________________________________________
Get more from your digital life. Find out how.
http://www.windowslive.com/default.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Home2_082008

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]